Effect of spraying thiamin and salicylic acid on growth and flowering of Zinnia elegans L.

This study was conducted during spring and summer seasons of 2011 to study the effect of foliar spraying of thiamin at 0, 60 and 120 mg L -1 and/or salicylic acid at 0, 25 and 50 mg L -1 on growth and flowering of Zinnia plant in a factorial experiment designed with R.C.B.D. Means were compared according to R.L.S.D test at probability 0.05. Results showed a significant increase in plant height, number of leaves plant -1 , leaf area, (dry matter, total chlorophyll, protein, phosphorus and potassium content in leaves), number of roots plant -1 , root dry weight, number of flowers plant -1 , flower diameter, dry weight of flowers and vase life when spraying with thiamin at 120 mg L -1 or salicylic acid at 50 mg L -1 . The interaction between the two factors increased significantly the number of leaves plant -1 to 32.00 when spraying with 120 mg L -1 thiamin + 25 mg L -1 salicylic acid, whereas spraying with thiamin at 120 mg L -1 + salicylic acid at 50 mg L -1 increased significantly number of roots plant -1 , root dry weight, number of